Indialaya Hindi School

The courses

Indialaya Hindi School

The Indialaya Hindi School, offers Hindi classes, lodging and boarding facilities to all international students in its premises. IHS has a capacity to lodge and board 15 students. The lodging facility has a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a small library, a big courtyard, a small garden and a big terrace. Food is prepared in the school kitchen by a cook specialising in vegetarian and non-vegetarian Lucknowi recipes.

In city of Lucknow

The Indialaya Hindi School is situated in the historic part of the city of Lucknow. Lucknow, the old capital of the Kingdom of Avadh (present day Uttar Pradesh) is famous for its beautiful language, refined mixed culture and its Mughal era royal court. Lucknow is located in North India, halfway between Delhi and Calcutta. The city is well-connected by trains and has an airport.

Philosophy of teaching

At Indialaya Hindi School, we believe that language can not be learnt just by doing some grammar drills and exercises or knowing a list of words by heart. Though these things are important in the learning of a language, a language is best learnt by 'living the language' i.e. by interacting with the native speakers in real life situations. That is why at Indialaya, apart from classroom teaching we give a lot of emphasis on the out-of-classroom-learning. For that we provide every student with a native language tutor or learning facilitator.

The role of a tutor is to help the student practise the language elements s/he has been exposed to in the classroom, in a natural and fun way. Apart from tutoring we give our students ample opportunities to interact with the native language speakers by encouraging them to participate in the local life. The learning process is further strengthened and enriched by exposure to the local culture through visits, meetings and workshops.

Library :

Our library is well equipped with dictionaries, books on grammar, literature and history of the languages taught at Indialaya. It also has many books on the culture, history, civilisation and religions, and regions of India. This library also has a small selection of films and other audio-visual material like TV serials, documentaries, songs, speeches etc. in the target languages. The books are available in English and in French. We also have a good collection of comic books in Hindi.

Audio-visual Room :

Here you can watch your favourite program in your target language on TV or you can watch a Hindi film on a big screen.

Other facilities :

Internet, telephone and laundry services are also available in our school.

Programme

Classroom teaching

Four hours' class per day from Monday to Friday consisting of three hours of intensive language classes and 1 hour class of history and culture. The classes will take place in a friendly but professional atmosphere. In order to make classroom teaching more effective and fun, the teachers make liberal use of the film clips and popular songs. Classes in small groups (max.10 students).

Ambience

Though our approach to language teaching is quite professional but you will find a familial ambience in our school. Every effort is made to make the students feel relaxed and at home.

Faculty

Mr. Azhar ABBAS, leading faculty of Indialaya Language School has been teaching Hindi and Urdu in various American and French universities for the last ten years. At present he is teaching Hindi at INALCO (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales), and the Sciences Po, Paris. France. Our teaching team is comprised of many experienced and dedicated teachers.

A typical day during the intensive classes*

08:30 a.m. to 09:30 a.m.: Breakfast

09:30 a.m. to 12h30 a.m.: Classes (with small breaks from time to time for tea/ coffee)

12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.: Lunch

2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: Free time - rest/ revision/ Hindi film

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.: History and Culture Class

6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Cultural activities, excursions/ visits/ meetings/ workshops etc.

8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.: Dinner

*This time-table is subject to modifications according to the planning of the day.

Co-curricular Activities:

Visits:

• Visits of the places of interest make an integral part of our learning program. Almost everyday students visits one or many of the following sites after their classes : historical monuments, UP State Museum, school of fine arts, temples, mosques and imambaras, churches, sufi shrines, ashrams, Hindustani Music University, La Martinère School, a building constructed by a French in the 19th century, a village and local markets
• You will also get the opportunity to meet with the artists, musicians, artisans, poets and writers.
• You may also like to try your hands in the Zari and Chikankari embroidery workshops.
• For the nature lovers we offer visits to the Kukrail Crocodile Conservation Park, Sikandarbagh Botanical Garden and the State Zoo.

Discoveries:

• There will be several opportunities to mix with the local people to facilitate practice of what you've learnt in your class-room and this in a warm and friendly atmosphere. This will also help you understand the culture and daily lives of the people.
• Possibility of being invited to an Indian marriage, invited by the local people in order to discover their way of life, being interviewed for TV, radio and local press.
• If you like the company of little ones, you can play, sing or tell stories to our school children (age 3 to 8). You can also teach them how to draw an elephant or make paper aeroplanes. In exchange, these small teachers may give you some big lessons in their mother tongue.
• If you love cooking, our cook will be more than happy to share his secrets of making mouth watering recipes with you.
• You will also get the chance to try Indian traditional dresses like saris, lahanga, shervani, kurta and turbans etc.

Extras to be planned:

Others courses possibles :

Indian cuisine classes, Initiation to Calligraphy, Henna sessions, Rangoli workshop, Astrology session.

Others languages possible: Ourdou, Bengali and Nepali

Tourism :

A trip to Agra, Varanasi, Delhi or Srinagar may be arranged on the request of the students. (conditions apply)